Storm could include thundersnow

The winter storm that’s hitting Iowa could bring an unusual weather situation with it. National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Small says there’s the potential for thundersnow.

Small says we could see snow mixed with some thunder and lightening, and that could lead to some very large amounts of snow in small areas. Lightening and thunderstorms aren’t something commonly associate with winter, but Small says it’s a matter of all the conditions coming together.

He says there’s an air mass above the state that will produce the freezing rain in southern Iowa, and that’s created a situation that’s unstable aloft, which is not unlike what you see in the spring and summer thunderstorms. Small says it’s not something you see with every winter storm.

"It’s fairly rare, it happens a few times during the cold season, but it’s not unheard of by any stretch," Small says. Small says we saw thundersnow in the storms that hit in February.